Connectors



F. B. HARLEY CONNECTORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOE FRANK B. HAELJEY Mum/ e. M Mk AT QEMEYS May 9, 1967 Filed Feb. 15, 1965 F. B. HARLEY May 9, 1967 CONNECTORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb; 15, 1965 Iuvuzwroe FEANK B. HARLEY Miami? W $1M);

ATTOENEVQ United States Patent 3,317,972 CONNECTORS Frank Bernard Harley, Egliarn, England, assignor to Harley Patents (International) Limited, Egham, England, a company of England Filed Feb. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 432,785 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Feb. 24, U64, 7 ,609/ 64 1 Claim. (Cl. 24-241) This invention relates to connectors and is particularly applicable to connectors of the snap hook type which for example may be employed in a parachute harness or in the lashing of equiment.

According to the present invention a connector comprises a main body affording two spaced portions to provide an open mouth through which another part, e.g. a ring, may be passed, a shroud pivoted to one portion and arranged to move from a closed position in which it overlies the mouth to an open position in which the other part can pass through the mouth, and latching means to retain the shroud in the closed position. The shroud may either move outwards from, or inwards into, the mouth in passing from the open to the closed position.

Preferably the latching means necessitates relative bodily movement of the shroud and body before the shroud can move from the closed to the open position, and in this case an abutment may be included on either the body or the shroud which is arranged to engage a shoulder on the other until such relative movement has taken place. For example the abutment may comprise a transverse pin arranged to engage a shoulder afforded by a slot.

Where the main body comprises a flat hook the shroud may comprise a U-shaped member having a pair of sides adapted to lie one on each side of the hook with the transverse pin extending between the sides of the U-shaped member.

According to a specific embodiment the transverse pin co-operates with a shoulder formed by an open slot on the hook. In an alternative arrangement the transverse pin extends through a closed L-shaped slot in the hook or shroud and is moved along from one end of the L to the other during movement from the closed to the open position, and two L-shaped slots may be included which are afforded on the inside surfaces of the shroud by a pair of plates mounted inside the sides of the shroud.

In a further arrangement the latching means comprises one or more spring biassed plungers for example mounted in a hole in the hook, but normally projecting therefrom to engage part of the shroud to prevent its movement, but which can be forced inwards by a press button carried by the shroud and aligned with the plunger in the closed position.

Conveniently in order to prevent inadvertent release two spring biassed plungers are pnovided which are adapted to be engaged by press buttons from opposite sides of the shroud.

The invention may be carried into practice in various ways but several specific embodiments will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a snap hook type connector according to the present invention with part broken away to show the internal arrangements;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation in the direction of the arrow A in FIGURE 1;

FIGURES 3 and 4 are similar views of the second embodiment;

FIGURE 5 is a Side elevation of a third embodiment;

3,3 17,9 72 Patented May 9, 1967 FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the arrangement of FIGURE 5 with the parts separated for clarity;

FIGURE 7 is an end elevation of the embodiment of a further embodiment;

FIGURE 8 is a side elevation of the embodiment of FIGURE 7; and

FIGURE 9 is a scrap sectional view showing the push button arrangement of the embodiments of FIGURES 7 and 8.

The embodiment of FIGURES 1 and 2 comprises a snap hook having a main, body portion 10 which can be generally referred to as of question-mark shape having a stem 11 which merges at one end into a curled or hooked portion 13 leaving a space 14 in which another part such as a D-ring can be secured in a manner to be described. Snap hooks having a body of this general shape are wellknown. Adjacent the other end of the stem portion 11 is an opening 15 by which the hook as a whole can be secured to another part.

The end 16 of the hooked portion 13 is spaced from a shoulder 17 of the stem portion 11 to form a mouth 18 through which the D-ring or other part can pass into the space 14. Bridging this mouth 18 is a shroud or closure member 20 which is of generally U-shape affording a pair of side plates 21 interconnected over a part of their length by a base portion 22 which in the full-line position of FIGURE 1 extends across the mouth 18 and prevents the passage of another part into or out of the space 14.

Extending between the side plates 21 of the closure member 20 are a pair of bolts 24 and 25, the bolt 24 extending through a longitudinal slot 27 in the stem portion 11 and the bolt 25 extending through an L-shaped slot 29 in the stem portion 11, one arm 30 of this slot extending generally parallel to the slot 27 and the other arm 31 extending generally transverse to the slot '27 and across one end thereof as shown in FIGURE 1. Surrounding the bolts within their slots are sleeves 32 and 33 respectively which are of a diameter substantially equal to the associated slot and of a length substantially equal to the thickness of the stem portion 11 of the hook.

The bolt 24 is biassed to the full-line position of FIG-' URE 1 by a compression spring 35 reacting against one end of the slot 27 in FIGURE 1 so that in the full-line position of the arrangement shown, the sleeves 32 and 33 are both held adjacent the lower ends of their slots in FIGURE 1, and accordingly the closure member 20 cannot pivot to expose the mouth 18, and therefore in this position a part such as a D-ring within the space 14 cannot be inadvertently released.

If, however, the closure member as a whole is moved in a direction parallel to the slot 27, -i.e., upwards in FIGURE 1, against the action of the compression spring 35, the sleeve 33 will come into line with the transverse arm 31 of the slot 29 and can thereafter move to the chain dotted position indicated at 36 to allow the closure member 20 to pivot through approximately 45 to open the mouth 18 and permit insertion or removal of a part from the space. 14.

The second embodiment shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 operates on a similar principle and again the hook 40 has a closure member 41 side plates 42 of which are interconnected by a pair of rods 43 one of which is acted upon by a compression spring 44 in a slot 45 and the other of which, in a closed position, rests in a U-shaped groove 46 to one side of the mouth 47 of the hook. Upon movement of the closure member against the action of the spring the rod 43 will be lifted out of the groove 46 to permit a pivoting movement of the closure member to the chain dotted line position, i.e., outwards in contrast to the inward movement of the arrangement of FIGURES 1 and 2.

The arrangement of FIGURES S and 6 again shows a closure member which is arranged to pivot outwards. In this instance the closure member is formed from a pair of side plates 51 and an interconnecting base portion 52. Each of the side plates 51 has a peripheral rim or flange 53 within which is located .a flat plate 54 corresponding in shape to the side plate 51 and in which is situated an L-shaped slot 55 to co-operate with a pin 56 mounted within a slot 57 in the stern portion 58 of the hook. A compression spring 60 extends between the pin 56 and a further rod 59, the rod 59 extending through aligned openings 61 in the two side plates 51 and the flat plates 54. Hence the operation is somewhat similar to the previous embodiments. In this case however the L- shape slot 55 is guided by the pin 56 and an opening movement of the closure member is performed by an upward movement of the member and hence the pin 59 as a whole until the pin 56 can move from one end of the L-shaped slot to the other.

A further embodiment is shown in FIGURES 7 to 9. In this case the hook is provided with a simple pivoted closure member 65 affording a pair of side plates 66 and an interconnecting base portion 67 which, in the position shown in FIGURE 8, closes a mouth 68 between the hook end 69 and a shoulder 70. In this case the closure member 65 is normally held in the closed position by a pair of plungers 71 shown in FIGURE 9 in the form of small caps received in a transverse bore 72 in the stem portion 73 of the hook. Each cap has a reduced head 74 which can pass into a circular hole 75 in a disc 76 which is held within an outward pressing 77 from the adjacent side of the side plates 66 so that, in the position shown in FIGURE 9, the closure member 65 cannot pivot to open the mouth 68. The outward pressings 77 are each provided with a circular opening 79 which receives a flanged press button 80 having a reduced knob 81 on its rear face of a dimension slightly less than the hole 75 in the adjacent disc 76 and arranged to engage the head 74 of the adjacent plunger 71 whereby a thumb and finger pressure on the press buttons 80 to force them inwards towards one another causes the plungers to move against the action of a spring 83 extending between them, so that the heads 74 are retracted from the holes 75 in the discs 76 to allow a pivoting movement of the closure member 65. A small leaf spring 85 is riveted at 86 to the base 67 of the closure member, the other end of the spring resting at 87 on the shoulder 70 so as to bias the closure member back to the closed position of FIGURE 8.

If desired, the arrangement can work quite satisfactorily with a single press button but the provision of two press buttons acts as a safety measure against inadvertent release.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A connector comprising a platelike main body, said body affording two spaced portions to provide an open mouth through which another part may be passed, a shroud comprising a U-shaped member having a pair of sides lying one on each side of the main body and an interconnecting base, the shroud being pivoted to one of said spaced portions by means passing through said portion and said pair of sides, the shroud being capable of pivotal movement from a closed position in which the base extends across the mouth to an open position in which another part can pass through the mouth, and latching means to retain the shroud in the closed position, said latching means comprising at least one springbiased plunger mounted in a hole in the body but normally having an end projecting therefrom, the said projecting end lying in a locking aperture of substantially the same size as the said end, said locking aperture being formed in a member abutting the surface of the body in a contact plane and being located within a space formed beneath an outwardly pressed region of the side of the shroud, said outwardly formed region having a hole formed therein in alignment with the locking aperture, and a press button having a first portion lying within the said hole, a second portion comprising a retaining shoulder arranged to abut the inner surface of the outwardly pressed region around the periphery of the hole, and a third portion having a size and shape no larger than said locking aperture and abutting the end of the plunger whereby inward pressure on the press button causes said third portion to force the plunger into or beyond the said contact plane.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 82,644 9/1868 Sanford 24239 90,964 6/ 1869 Sly 24239 171,984 1/1876 Bullwinkle 24233 2,954,634 10/ 1960 Peschong 24230 X FOREIGN PATENTS 714,198 9/1931 France. 43,066 11/1933 France. 15,244 1907 Great Britain. 499,245 1/ 1939 Great Britain. 570,036 6/ 1945 Great Britain' 867,510 5/ 1961 Great Britain.

WILLIAM F ELDMAN Primary Examiner.

D. GRIFFIN, Examiner. 

